Digests & Art Surveys:
2 Years of THR Guidebooks
The above image reviews some of the various vintage Halloween collectible guidebooks and art surveys published by The Halloween Retrospect since July 2023.
Not to toot one’s own holiday noisemaker, but The Halloween Retrospect wishes to take a moment to review it’s own recent past. The goal is to express an appreciation for all who have supported THR (archive, library, publisher) particularly by purchasing its series of guidebooks and art surveys delving into vintage Halloween collectibles.
You, esteemed readers as well as those who merely sampled the goods, have helped THR sales surpass the 300 mark in only two years time! And while true the number 300 is a drop in the bucket compared to mega-mega-corporate sales, I like to remember THR is deliberately niche, and not for everyone, with research focusing on citable facts via turgid prose. I am quite satisfied to have a small but discerning audience – many of whom leave the most flattering reviews on Etsy.
Such work has been brought to you by THR’s jack-o-lantern of all trades… researcher, author, editor, collector, archivist, librarian, artist, designer, photographer, publisher, seller, promoter, etc. That is, of course, to say that none of this could have happened without the monumental work of existing professional archives and libraries to establish our current era of discoverability and accessibility… you will always find them referenced in book credits and in some past posts.
Above gallery includes a few snippets found across various THR vintage Halloween collectibles guides and art surveys from its recent publishing past.
Anyway, the slides above (as recently seen on THR’s Instagram @halloweenretrospecs) are a little celebration of that number 300 by way of previous book content. The first image features Halloween Artifacts V1: Lighting, sampling here a German fireplace screen which appears among nearly 100 other examples pulled from the shelves of THR’s archive collection. Following that (above) are 4 images from recent articles found in THR, Volume 4 digest including – A) obscure diecuts from John Wilcox, B) Milton Bradley paper window decoration c. 1940’s, C) imagery from illustrator Mabel Betsy Hill, and D) imagery from art educator Louise D. Tessin.
Above gallery displays current titles of vintage Halloween collectible guidebooks and art surveys from The Halloween Retrospect (Click each for more information).
By the way, if you are seeking a quick shortcut to purchase volumes of THR, the Etsy Bookstore helps this author manage: publication quality, required taxes, and sturdy shipping. It also allows for inclusion of THR-picked bonus materials like postcards, posters, crossword puzzles, and most recently an homage art window by vintage-style Halloween artist Bindlegrim @bindlegrim (IG) and Etsy store: https://www.etsy.com/shop/bindlegrim.
In closing, for those book collectors wondering if there are remaining numbers of first run books, the current Etsy stock is as follows (as of this date August 4th, 2025):
THR, Volume 2 has 22 of 1st run digests remaining.
THR, Volume 3 has 19 of 1st run digests remaining.
THR, Volume 4 digest & Halloween Artifacts, Volume 1: Lighting art survey are both too new to worry just yet… while THR, Volume 1digest reached its second print run some time ago.
PLEASE NOTE: THR does NOT employ AI-generative technology. Content is created by human biological entities to ensure results engage accurate research with mindful artistry.
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